I owe this meditation to my brother, Ryan Fields, who has shared with me his wisdom on this subject during our conversation, and whose inspiration was from another brother in church, and that from many others before him, and ultimately from our Lord God. Such is the beauty of Christian edification.
Life just gets busier isn’t it? I was just reflecting about how often in this culture we greet each other how are you, and how often we respond “busy”. This usually is accompanied by a sigh or a shaking of the head, suggesting a discontent with what has been and a very bleak and weary outlook of what is to come. Busy perhaps is the true reflection of our condition, but busy is also the self-projected perpetuation of self-pity, and it is even the excuse we put out to shield ourselves from more responsibility. How many people actually have joy and “take pleasure in all his toil–this is God’s gift to man.” Ecclesiastes 3:13. Gift? You’ve got to be kidding me. We then lapse into what I call misery reinforcement cycle: i’ve got alot of work, work makes me feel miserable, my misery makes me only see my work, and the pressure makes me feel even more miserable. With regard to busyness as an excuse, we often communicate to others that we are busy for 1) need for an image of productiveness to be upheld 2) reflect away any “unnecessary” propositions that may potentially complicate our situation. (1), because having nothing to do, seeming free, communicates a sign of weakness and not fully using one’s time to achieve something. Almost to say that a busy person is a useful person (see previous post). (2), because saying we are so caught up with our work is essentially saying we have no time for anything else concerning others, so “just leave me alone”.
Let’s face it. We are busy by default. Even if we are not, we make ourselves busy. So the hope that things will get better, I will be more free by time t to do a, is a false one. I often find that I never get down to do a, because more things come up to fill my “free” schedule. So then, what should we say to this? Ryan brought up the importance of establishing life patterns, in which we commit to prayer and and Christian disciplines and make it a necessary and fixed part of our lives. I choose to think that we ought to devote ourselves to these amidst our preoccupation, not apart from it. Yes, work is never-ending, but there has to be the understanding that enough is enough, sometimes.
As we progress in life, the responsibilities on our shoulders are just going to become greater and heavier. The person that has life patterns well-established from a young age finds that 24 hrs is all he needs, because he develops a pattern around it, not demanding more to accommodate his insatiable hunger. I’m coming to appreciate Matthew 6:34 “do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” In the spirit of that, I resolve to not say that I’m busy, to put up this self-protective reflective barrier, but to have time available for God and brothers and sisters.
Help keep me accountable.
“What gain has the worker from his toil?.. He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:9,11
